The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1887-01-28
MANKATo FREE Press.
FRIDAY. JANUARY as. 1857.
FARM NOTES.

FARM NOTES.
A good grooming is as refreshing t.
horse as bath is to man.
Turnips are native food for sheep.
Farmers in England feed scarcely any.
thing else.
Without system in farming there car
be no success Business methods are a.
important as technical knowledge.
Sulphur and old tobacco leaves burn
ed in the poultry house. the house being
closed perfectly tight will clean out tn,
red lice.
Make friends of your horses. They
Will enjoy your sociability as well as you
will. Sensible horses like to be talked
to by sensible men.
Be careful in feeding new corn. Tn,
old, well-dried corn should be fed first,
so as to give the new corn as much tim,
as possible for drying.
A mixture of several kinds of grain fol-
feeding stock is always better than one
kind alone. Variety in grain is as i'm.
portant as variety in bulky food.
1t is useless to hope to destroy tn,
acidity Of certain soils by the applica.
ton Of lime and other supposed correc
hves. Only drainage will accomplish
it
The theory that fowls and turkeys in,
jure the grain by roaming through it il
not true, while the slugs they kill and
their droppings made soluble by the rair
increase the crop.
A man who mas tried putting tarred
paper around young trees to prevent
mice and rabbits from gnawing the
bark says It will kill more trees than
the animals will.
Capitalists are purchasing large tracts
of hardwood and hemlock land iu
Northern Wisconsin. in view of the in
creasing demand for hard woods for
manufacturing purposes.
Where wire-fencing is not easily OBJ
tanned the poultry yards may be fenced
with laths, which will last two seasons
Laths make cheap fence, but the wire
netting is more durable.
In storing potatoes the first considera
ton is to keep them in perfect darkness
the next that the bins should not be toe
deep, nor over three feet, else it pro
duces warmth and causes them to sprout
Bookkeeping is profitable industry
to those who are adapted TO and thor
oughly understand the business.
young man in Illinois sold 10,40t
pounds of honey from 1876 colonies o
bees.
Fifteen years ago, says Western con
temporary, the ranges of Kansas anC
Colorado were covered with counties!
numbers of buffalo. 1t is said there ar,
not more than 1000 buffaloes now il
existence.
There is no farm interest that tend
more surely to profit than sheep OIL
lands suited to grazing, especially wher,
weeds or bushes interfere with success
full cultivation, or on lands too rough
to till easily.
Signs and Seasons says: All thing
make friends. with a stone house-th,
MOSES and lichens, and vines ant
birds. 1t is kindred to the earth anl
the elements, and makes itself at home
in any situation.
There is no better plan for freein,
rooms and cellars of mildew than Il
burn sulphur in them. The room
should be effectually closed. and no
opened for one hour after being tillet
with the sulphur fumes.
The best bed for pigs is one made o
leaves. Fine litter of any kind is al
ways preferred by them to that which
is coarse, and the cheapest and mos
convenient is leaves, which require n,
preparation for that purpose.
Clean out wells during dry seasons
No matter how well covered they ma,
be, the chances are that toads will b
found in them. 1t is important to hav,
such work done every year if suppl,
of pure, clean water is desired.
Milking should be done and mill
should be kept only where the surround
ing air is pure and free from all objec
tionable and tainting odors. Milking
in foul-smelling stable or yard effect
the fluid and imparts an injurious tain
In selecting SOW for breeding
choose one that is quiet and mild in dil
position. She may be the one that will
lay on fat most easily. and 1t will. thers
fore, be necessary to feed sparingly, bu
she will be all the better as breede
for this.
Keep good lookout for rats and cat,
Remove all piles of rubbish from nea
where the chickens run. Rats will nc
stay where there is no place for them t
run INTO and hide. Keep young chick
as far as possible from buildings, an
the rats will not trouble them.
Sulphide of potash has been tried TO
mildew on roses, chrysanthemums, an
other green house plants with success
A quarter of an ounce in a gallon G
water, thrown on the affected foliag
with fine-nosed syringe, is said to de
stroy the fungus without injury to tn
plants.
The manure and liquid dropping
from stock that have been mixed an
absorbed with sawdust may be apple,
with advantage upon clay soils, whicl
it lightens and relieves of that sticky
tenacious quality which prevents sucl
soils from absorbing manure as gener
ally applied.
A neutral tint in farm buildings
preferable to positive colors, as white
red, or bright yellow. White is espe
cially Objectionable. 1t is too glaring
and not in harmony with trees an,
surrounding natural colors. A quie
drab or gray matches best with the sur
roundings of buildings.
The cultivation of tobacco in Ger
many has of late been decreasing, chief
ly owing to the bad system of taxation
which sadly letters the action of tn
tobacco-planters. The number of tn
latter has decreased in the last year b,
more than 10000. The total production
in 1885 was Is, 900, 900 pounds, which i
less than the yield in 1884. The valu
this year is 100000 marks, agains
1000, 900 in 1884, although the pric
has risen.
The New England Farmer deplore
the decadence of agriculture there il